Speculation on Liquid Luck
Jan. 30th, 2013 03:18 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockThis idea came up in an exchange with, if I recall, madderbrad, but for those who missed it there, here’s my theory on Felix Felicis.
Horace told his class it was “Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong.” (HBP 9)
Old Sluggy is glossing over things a bit here because Dumbledore is so hot against any Dark Arts theory being taught at Hogwarts.
It’s potentially disastrous to brew Felix Felicis right. There’s at least one step that has, say, a fifty-fifty chance of blowing up in the brewer’s face. Fatally. And every attempt ever made to make that step less dangerous, shield against the possible explosion, or rework the formula, has resulted in a mess with no luck-conferring properties at all.
Because the brewer is purchasing the luck s/he’s infusing in the potion by taking that risk, in essence offering hir life for the chance of luck. Thus, while there will always be the occasional brewer who’s desperate enough for money or glory to try a batch, it basically isn’t available on the open market.
We can infer that it is not generally available, not for any money, for if it had been, Draco’s mother would surely have purchased some for him.
(Now that I think about it, this might have been the original reason for Tom’s recruitment of one S. Snape. Someone disposable, but good at brewing, to try a batch. If so, how bitter Severus must have been when he realized, and how motivated to prove his long-term value so the Dark Lord would take him off that project.)
Three guesses where Slughorn’s sample came from; he’s certainly never brewed any himself. Indeed, he never claimed to have.
Horace told his class it was “Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong.” (HBP 9)
Old Sluggy is glossing over things a bit here because Dumbledore is so hot against any Dark Arts theory being taught at Hogwarts.
It’s potentially disastrous to brew Felix Felicis right. There’s at least one step that has, say, a fifty-fifty chance of blowing up in the brewer’s face. Fatally. And every attempt ever made to make that step less dangerous, shield against the possible explosion, or rework the formula, has resulted in a mess with no luck-conferring properties at all.
Because the brewer is purchasing the luck s/he’s infusing in the potion by taking that risk, in essence offering hir life for the chance of luck. Thus, while there will always be the occasional brewer who’s desperate enough for money or glory to try a batch, it basically isn’t available on the open market.
We can infer that it is not generally available, not for any money, for if it had been, Draco’s mother would surely have purchased some for him.
(Now that I think about it, this might have been the original reason for Tom’s recruitment of one S. Snape. Someone disposable, but good at brewing, to try a batch. If so, how bitter Severus must have been when he realized, and how motivated to prove his long-term value so the Dark Lord would take him off that project.)
Three guesses where Slughorn’s sample came from; he’s certainly never brewed any himself. Indeed, he never claimed to have.
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Date: 2013-01-31 05:26 am (UTC)So the display put on by the Hogwarts line at the battle was a deliberate misdirection, a show right up there with Professor Snape's efforts to persuade the Gryffs he'd tried to poison Trevor. See how harmless and cute we are? In battle, all we can do is stab you in the shin!
Much better to have wizards believing that than to realize they can command beings who can break through most wizard castings like they are tissure paper, but who are constrained to obey absolutely their masters' direct orders.
That's my current theory on the elf-batttle behavior. But you're right, of course, the Doylist explanation is the correct one. But mine is more fun..
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Date: 2013-01-31 09:55 pm (UTC)It's funny how only Harry Potter
is allowed todiscovers how awesomely powerful the house elves are, and uses them - TWO of them - at various times to do his work for him.Even the dark lord knew what the elves could do ... but then never uses them again.
(Rowling has Hermione try and explain it away - even Rowling must have winced over this particular plot gulf - as the dark lord thinking it demeaning to use them, or something. Even though he does. Once.)
I enjoy this Watsonian/Doylist thing - I've seen the words before, in skimming through posts in this community, but the overload on the words (viz the comment of condwiramurs, above) forced me to recourse to Google to find out what it was all about. I've always enjoyed the 'Watsonian' deductions here. Although sometimes it is a bit hard, particularly with the more glaring errors, not to see the big ROWLING WAS A TERRIBLE WRITER sign in front of one's nose.
But in this case ... more fun, maybe, but I don't think it hangs together. I mean, if *Harry Potter* could think to use a house elf - HARRY POTTER - then you'd think the purebloods who'd lived with the elves all their lives would have come up with the idea, just once or twice.